Arena Profile: Rep. Phil Gingrey

Congressman Phil Gingrey was born and raised in Augusta. After graduating from St. Thomas Aquinas High School, he moved to Atlanta to attend Georgia Tech. Phil co-oped his way through college, and completed his undergraduate studies in Chemistry. With a Bachelor's of Science degree from Georgia Tech, Phil returned home to Augusta to attend the Medical College of Georgia.

Dr. Gingrey served his internship at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, and his residency at the Medical College of Georgia. He also completed a rotation during this time at Doctor's Hospital in Columbus.

Upon completion of his medical training, Dr. Gingrey moved his young family to Marietta where he set up a pro-life OB-GYN practice. For 26 years, Phil built a successful practice and delivered more than 5,200 babies.

Phil has worked hard for the betterment of his community. He served on the Marietta city school board, where he was elected chairman three times. In 1998, Phil decided to run for state Senate. Phil won, and was re-elected in 2000 with 74 percent of the vote. Then in 2002, he was elected U.S. Congressman for Georgia's 11th District.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Gingrey is working to improve education, protect our nation, fight for the life of the unborn, and improve healthcare for all Americans. He is committed to lowering taxes for hardworking Georgians and protecting the traditional values so important to Northwest Georgia.

Congressman Gingrey currently serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee, where he will use his background as a physician to shape our nation’s health care policy. During his previous terms in Congress, Phil has also served on the Armed Services Committee, the Rules Committee, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the Science and Technology Committee. In the 110th Congress, Phil served as Ranking Member of the Science Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation.

Phil and his wife, Billie, have been married for 39 years. They have been blessed with four children, Billy, Gannon, Phyllis and Laura Neill, and ten grandchildren. They attend St. Joseph Catholic Church in Marietta.

Rep. Phil Gingrey's Recent Discussions

Should the rich pay more, as President Obama says?

Reid DREAM-ing over immigration?

(Interview with POLITICO's Seung Min Kim)

I think it’s despicable, quite honestly. Sen. Reid – who we all know is in a very tough reelection battle – that he would use this and use the men and women in the military, who are at the tip of the spear, who have given their lives in the defense of our country, to really use them to try to force this passage of the DREAM Act so he can pander to a large Hispanic voting bloc in his state of Nevada is just deplorable, quite honestly.

Why should we take over a million of these youngsters, who came in illegally with their parents, and who are going to crowd out others who came in legally or other citizens? Your children, or grandchildren, or my children … this is grossly unfair.

Green light for gay marriage?

(Interview with POLITICO's Gloria Park)

I think that [Judge] Walker is wrong in this case. The people of California overwhelmingly voted almost two years ago in a ballot initiative to amend their state constitution and basically ban same-sex marriage by definition. What right does the federal court have to come in and say that this is unconstitutional from a federal perspective?

Walker uses some vague question of the mindset of the California electorate regarding their moral judgment. How does he know what was in the minds of each and every Californian that went into the voting booth that November almost two years ago and made the decision to vote in favor of banning same-sex marriage and amending the California constitution to that effect? I don’t think the federal court has any standing in regard to that decision.

I would hope that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals would overrule Walker’s ruling. I’m not holding my breath because this is the most liberal appellate court in the nation. The decision will not only affect California but also eight other states and the territory of Guam. How ironic would it be if this court upholds Walker’s decision and says to the people of Guam, the Chamorro — who are U.S. citizens and probably 95 percent Catholic — that because of the liberal people in San Francisco, they are going to have to accept same-sex marriage. That is absolutely absurd.

More POLITICO Arena

About the Arena

The Arena is a cross-party, cross-discipline forum for intelligent and lively conversation about political and policy issues. Contributors have been selected by POLITICO staff and editors. David Mark, Arena's moderator, is a Senior Editor at POLITICO. Each morning, POLITICO sends a question based on that day's news to all contributors.